Tag: raw cacao

Sugar. It’s a word that used to be sweet; but that isn’t the case these days. I mean, It’s been plastered all over the media these last few years telling us how bad it is especially for our health and all!

Luckily, I am not a sugar craving type of human being any more; give me a grain of salt, preferably Himalayan pink or Celtic sea salt, any day. There are a few days where I just want something sweet, but I don’t want the common sucrose, table sugar. When I am hit with a craving such as this, I want something really rich and satisfying. I’d much rather have a lick of something decadent over constantly going back for more and more spoonfuls of a particular chocolate hazelnut spread that so many people are fond of.

I know sugar is addictive. Science has proven it. I was once addicted to it. Back in the day when I was a little kid, I’d go crazy looking for something sweet. Searching high and low, in my mum and dad’s wardrobe (mum usually hid it there, thinking we’d never find it, but we always did – they obviously never learned from their mistakes ;P). If however, there was a box of ‘roses’ shortage, there’d always be a can of condensed milk in the pantry. To this day, I don’t know how I could smash a good quarter of it, right then and there! Ewww!!

Because I have an almost two year old, little toddlers are more inclined to pick something sweet. I’m always thinking of what to make, meals and snacks, that pack a nutritional punch. It’s almost winter here, and this last week, we both have been fighting a head cold of some sort. Oranges are in season, and how good is it they are filled with heaps of immune boosting nutrients? We’ve got vitamin C, bioflavonoids, beta-carotene, lutein, potassium, zinc, B vitamins, iron, magnesium and a bit of calcium just to name a few.

My toddler has not had the best appetite over the last few days due to being a little under the weather. I know she’s fine, but being a mum, you want your child to eat (I’m sure this resonates with the maternal people). We are blessed in Australia, because we have access to such delicious fruit, and by fruit I mean the humble AVO! Avocados are nutrition powerhouses, and my little one, does NOT like them! So, what do I do? Hide it in her food. Mash it up with banana, sweet potatoes/potatoes, in her porridge, smoothies and in ‘desserts’.

If you haven’t tried a chocolate avocado mousse, I know it sounds weird, but let me tell you, it’s so rich and creamy, so satisfying and it doesn’t leave you feeling heavy, when you compare it to a dairy milk version; please give this ago. Sweet treats are an occasional food. They contain sugar, be it glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, whatever. Sugar is still sugar – just choose a better option. I always opt for a sweetener that is less processed than sucrose aka common table sugar, so I use sweeter fruits like ripe bananas, apples, pears, oranges, figs, prunes, dates. I also like molasses (although I have to be in the mood for this one), coconut sugar, pure maple syrup and honey.

Anyway here’s my recipe. Please enjoy.

Vegan Choc Orange Mousse

perfect portion for 2

Ingredients

½ cup of raw cashew nuts

a good pinch of Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt

3 tsp – 3 tbsp raw cacao, according to taste

1 tbsp desiccated coconut – optional

2 tbsp coconut sugar or maple syrup

2 oranges, peeled and roughly chopped

1 ripe avocado, deseeded and peeled

Method

Place cashews, salt, sugar, coconut and cacao into TM bowl and grind10 seconds,speed 10, until the cashews are ground up. Scrap sides and bottom of TM bowl to loosen, as nuts can turn into butter and if they are stuck to the walls of the bowl they won’t incorporate nicely into the mousse.

Add avocado and oranges and blitz for up to 1 minute, speed 10. or until your desired consistency has been achieved. Scrape down sides every now and then.

Spoon into glasses and place in the fridge. Or not. Just eat the mousse, enjoy 😉

Bon appetit

Conventional method

Place all ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth in consistency – about 5 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to scrape sides.

When nice and smooth, spoon mousse into glasses or bowls and either eat straight away, or if you can wait, pop them in the fridge for a few hours.